>Before they can set out again, crew members must leave the vessel momentarily to untether the lines and cast them aboard ship to be used again. Of course, these crew members must leap aboard smartly before the vessel sets sail without them.
Having spent many a fine morning or afternoon riding the ferry from Ocracoke Island to the mainland, I will have to disagree with you a bit on this. The ropes that tether the ship to the pier or dock are called hawsers, and are permanently affixed at the landward end. When the vessel pulls in a shoreside person tosses the hawser to the crewmember at the bow or stern, which latter person ties around the whatever they call the things on the ship. Of course this only works where the vessel is pulling in to its normal port of call, I'd guess, but ferries do just that.
Otherwise, somewhat like (but not exactly like) the famous cry at Ford's Theatre on 14th April 1865, you would hear, "Is there a hawser on the dock?"
